Crowdfunded games

Backers' Beta Tester

Just wondering if anyone has helped crowdfund any games aside from Them's Fightin' Herds? Any crowdfunded games you're looking forward to? Any you missed out on that you're interested in?

Or even if you have an opinion on the Crownfunding model. Does it work? Do you think this new(ish) trend of getting funding from the general public instead of private investors is helping or hindering the games industry overall? Do you agree with more established companies and second-timers utilising Kickstarter and IGG or do you think it should be the realm of new developers that don't have the support of private investors? I'm interested in what you think!

The only game apart from TFH that I've put money towards is Night in the Woods. There's a couple of pay-what-you-want mini games at the bottom of the page I've linked if you want to have a little taste.

Backers' Beta Tester

The only other game I've helped crowdfund so far is Indivisible, the game the Skullgirls creators are making. It looks pretty interesting, and I also wanted to support them for their help gettting TFH going with their engine.

Backers' Beta Tester

Other than TFH, I've helped fund Indivisible, Hivebent (the Homestuck game), and Power Drive 2000. There are several others that I'm interested in, but I either found out about them after their respective campaigns had ended, or I didn't care enough to give them money before a product was available.

Backers' Beta Tester

Dropped money on TFH, Indivisible and Bloodstained on the videogame front. Backed a few albums cardgames, artbooks, films, models and such so I'm a bit of a sucker for a decent crowdfunding campaign.

I've been lucky with my pledges so far in that everyone has done exactly what they said they'd do and were 100% upfront about any issues, but most of the people I backed were people I'd been following for a while anyway.

Crowdfund Backer

I jumped on the Indivisible bandwagon as well. Really looking forward to it - I'm actually playing Valkyrie Profile right now to get some idea of how the combat works.
I also backed Pocket Rumble a while ago, and it's finally on Steam. It only has 2 characters so far, but the engine and systems feel really good.

Crowdfund Backer

TFH is the fourth game i have supported via crowd funding. The others are Yooka Laylee, Bloodstained and Mighty No 9.
I really was interested in backing Moon Hunters, but I don't have access to a credit card, and Kickstarter does not accept Paypal...

Right now, are there any interesting campaigns running, or about to start?

Backers' Beta Tester

A fair few. Including Them's Fightin' Herds, I've backed 8 projects on IndieGoGo, and a whopping 33 on Kickstarter (not counting a half dozen or so that failed or were canceled). My biggest backing was for Them's Fightin' Herds, but Project Phoenix on Kickstarter is a close second.

Also, I'm glad crowdfunding of video games is a thing + I've yet to regret supporting a video game's Kickstarter/Indiegogo. Granted, I only back campaigns if the developers already proved with an earlier game/project that they can deliver quality work, but I see that as the exact point. This way I can help someone who previously created something I enjoy, in a way become part of their project, whereas they get to express their full artistic vision without being pressured with deadlines and "alternative ideas" by the publisher.

Some people who have no idea what they're doing try to take advantage of the model, giving it a bad rep in result (Chainsaw Incident and Beast's Fury being two good examples that come to mind), but it's an acceptable minor issue considering the good that comes from crowdfunding.

Staff MemberMane6 QA

Backers' Beta Tester

I backed Hivebent, Barkley 2, and Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians. Also some games that have come out and I am pleased with, There Came an Echo and UnderTale.

I like the idea of crowdfunding, and I think it's fine in practice if you approach it with some caution. There are a couple things I got that I didn't like as much as I thought I would, but neither of them were games.

Backers' Beta Tester

Backers' Beta Tester

Besides TFH, I backed Shovel Knight, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Yooka-Laylee (which got the most money out of me because physical copy + shipping), Indivisible, and Dragon: The Game (which still has 9 days to go at the time of this post). Plus I slacker-backed Skullgirls.

Backers' Beta Tester

I don't think I actually backed anything succesful on kickstarter/indiegogo. Though I sent some money for Elite and Starbound during early development.
Holy crow, now that I think about it, I actually threw ~80euros just for Elite.

Crowdfund Backer

But the most money ive ever spent on a crowdfunded project was SHENMUE 3. Like hoooooly crap I am a die hard Shenmue fangirl and ive been waiting so long and holding onto hope that one day that Shenmue 3 would be announced. When E3 rolled around I flipped my lid at the Sony panel. I spent $160 dollars on that campaign, which was basically all of the spare 'recreational activity' money i could afford when it was announced. If I was a billionaire I would have just funded it entirely by myself

Backers' Beta Tester

I don't think I actually backed anything succesful on kickstarter/indiegogo. Though I sent some money for Elite and Starbound during early development.
Holy crow, now that I think about it, I actually threw ~80euros just for Elite.

Backers' Beta Tester

I've spent $200 on TFH but i dont regret a cent spent. When I look at AAA games with $120 price tags and all they deliver is an initially broken game with pretty graphics, expensive season passes, paid DLC and Friggn' RNG loot! It makes me sick. The dinosaurs like EA, Activision, Konami, and EVEN the mighty Nintendo (my first gaming love) need to evolve or go extinct.

I'd rather give my money to people who are passionate about their game and the lore they're building.

Thank you Mane6, thank you. I hope you realise you and the other indie developers are really making a difference in the gaming industry.

On the topic of missed campaigns, I do wish that I had known about crowdfunding back when Wasteland 2's was live, though I got to pick it up during Torment's campaign. I also somehow missed Shovel Knight's when it was up, but have since acquired and played it. Other than that, I can't think of any others I missed that I really wanted to fund.

I really like the idea of the crowd-funding model since it allows some games to get funding that might never have, and from my experience it's worked out really well overall. I mean, I've had a run-in or two with some poorly managed campaigns, but the experience of being able to help some people complete their dream projects has more than made up for those negatives (and the perks are nice too).

Backers' Beta Tester

So far I've backed on Indiegogo, Kickstater & Patreon:
Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero (Slacker Backer)
Mighty No.9 (Mighty Slacker Becker)
Battle Chasers: NightWars (you can still get rewards on their website)
Indivisible (You can still back this as it's in Indemand) (Free prototype/demo)
Them's Fightin' Herds
Rabi-Ribi (Free Demo)
The Miskatonic (Slacker Backer) (pre-order) (Free Demo) (You can still pre-order this game on thier Patreon page)
Future Fragments (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page ) (Free Demo)
Divine Arms (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page) (Free Demo)
LewdGamer (not a game) (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page)
Team Notion (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page)
Dragon's Lair: The Movie (not a game) (InDemand) (you can still donate to this on Indiegogo) (Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp & Space Ace games on different platforms inc Blu-Ray )
A Hat In Time (Slacker backer) (pre-order the Deluxe Edition) (You can still pre-order the game on the Hat In Time website )
Crisis Point Extinction (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page) (Free Demo)
Yandere Simulator (you can still donate to this on thier Patreon page) (Free Demo)

I might pre-order the Hat In Time standard or deluxe edition. I may eventually donate to the Long Gone Gulch Animated Pilot on go fund me.com & to the Jinko Indiegogo campaign when they put up a store on there website for slacker backers.
Just waiting for Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom to come out as well. I hope they add a playable Monster Girl character in this game. Her move sets could be similar to Monster World IV Asha & Pepelogoo.

I would of like to of backed the original A Hat In Time, The Miskatonic ,Skullgirls, Jinko, Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero, Legend of Iya Kickstarter & Indiegogo campaigns.

Here's hoping that there will be a 2nd batch of A Hat In Time merch for backers & non backers in the future.

I did back Adventure of Pip 2nd Kickstarter via PayPal, for XBox 360, but I eventually asked for a refund & got it, when I found out that they wouldn't be porting the game to XBox 360.

It's a shame all the #Shantae4Smash fans weren't around to contribute to the Shantae:1/2 Genie Hero Kickstarter. We might have gotten the four remaning stretch goals (Nega-Shantae bonus chapter, voice overs, animated cutscenes & another bonus chapter with Risky Boots. These could be future DLC's if the game sells well) funded. That being said if SHGH Kickstarter came out after Mighty No.9 Kickstarter was over maybe more stretch goals could of got funded.
WayForward should have spread the word a bit more, about the Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero PayPal site for Slacker Backers when the orginal SHGH Kickstarter finished. The SHGH PayPal stayed open for a year and we got Hero Modes stretch goal funded. So we got Rottytops, Bolo & Sky as well as Risky Boots as playble characters in SHGH.
As a Shantae Slacker Backer I wanted WayForward to open up thier limited tiers for slacker backers as I wanted to get my art in to Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero (Maybe Wayforward will do another original game through Kickstarter or Indiegogo & ill get my art into that game instead).
It's good that WayForward, Lab Zero & other companies decided to keep their campaigns open for slacker backers & offer them some if not all the backer exclusive rewards (phyiscal & digital) (excluding limited tiers rewards ) that the original backers got in their campaigns.

It would have been intresting to see some type of Shantae:1/2 Genie Hero & Mighty No.9 crossover DLC(s), like the Risky Boots & Hyper Drifter Light crossover DLC(s).

One thing I've notice is when I'm talking to some people about donating to crowd funding campaigns, how much I have already donated to different campaigns and why I have donated to those campaigns , they can't seem to wrap their heads around it.

Backers' Beta Tester

These are my physical rewards I got from donating to the the Rabi-Ribi Indiegogo campaign (Ultimate Hug Pillow Edition tier).
All the items where in individual packaging, the box all the items where in where bubble wraped with a fragile sticker on the outside of the box.
The Rabi-Ribi mug, Ribbon T-shirt (Erina T-shirt for people buying from Animen) wall scroll and singed poster are the exclusive rewards for backers who donated to the $60+ tiers.

Due to this campaign not reaching it's goal & the campaign having flexible funding (info on flexible funding Indiegogo Flexible Funding: What Is It And Is It Right For Me?), backers didn't get the physical game, beta access, access to an backers only event & the T-shirt not being made in XL,XXL, ect which wasn't cool.
The campany may do another Indiegogo campaign in the future and give backers of Rabi-Ribi who donate to their new campagin a discount or extra items as a gesture of good will.
This game could get ported to console (maybe portable devices) when the final products is made on Steam. At the moment they keep adding new patches to the game to fix bugs, add new achevements, ect, ect.
The company recently added new features to the game for Easter.

[Edit]
I Will have to keep a close eye on lynn and the spirits of inao campaign due to resent reports about the way BloomyLight Studio treat their interns. If everything true about this project I will take back my money on the last day of their campaign.

Attached Files:

Backers' Beta Tester

Just resently backed Demoniaca: Everlasting Night on Kickstarter (google their Kickstarter campaign). There's 4 days left to help fund this game. If it gets funded there a chance that they will keep the kickstarter open via PayPal &/or their website for Demoniaca Slacker Backers.

Backers' Beta Tester

[Edit]
Crowd funded games like Mighty No.9, Lynn and the Spirits Of Inao (If the rumours are true) & other poorly managed campaigns [Insert companies/ peoples names here..........................................................] are making it harder for people to put their faith & money in to allot of new and promising campaigns on Indiegogo, Kickstarter, Patreon and other crowd funding websites.

After this I think a new Monster World game featuring Asha & Pepelogoo & a remake of Monster World IV for current gen console & PC would be cool. Would also be cool if they could port Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom & Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap to PS3, XBox 360 & PSP/ PS Vita. I got Monster World IV on XBox 360 [Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World] .

An Asha & Shantae game would be cool to play.

Airship Syndicate the company that is creating Battle Chaser: NightWar [One of thier characters will feature in Indivisible & so will [retro/original] Shantae] have found a publisher & will be making physical copies of the game. They are also finding a way where backers who want to can upgrade their pledges/tiers to get the physical copy of the game. I hope more indie game companies that use crowd funding websites to get their projects funded also consider this type of practice when they eventually find a plublisher before thier game has been released.

I've just backed Henshin Engine and it's also reached it's initial funding goal with 9 days to go. Hope a physical and digital version of this could get ported to Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PSP, SNES, N64 &/or Game Boy Colour.

$22,400 - The game gets ported to the Dreamcast and will be added to any of the physical media tiers as an alternate choice. Estimated release of late 2017 if this stretch goal is reached. -LOCKED!

$28,000- We will make a 30-minute mini-documentary, "The Making of Henshin Engine" which will be made in cooperation with Rob McCallum of Pyre Productions, The creator of Nintendo Quest, Power of Grayskull, Box Art and more! -LOCKED!

$35,000 - We would then port it to a cartridge based retro console (SuperNES, Sega CD/Genesis/MD, GB etc.) which will be decided by a poll on the Henshin Engine Official Facebook and will be added to the physical media tiers as an alternate choice. -LOCKED!

Apparently this game got full crowdfunded since it had the mercy or fight option of a 'choose your scenario' game. The monsters are a tad weirder than most though. Who knows, maybe Toby will do a collab with the game's creator.